West Ham United manager David Moyes has defended Jurgen Klopp after the Liverpool manager was sent off against Manchester City on Sunday.
Klopp was dismissed by referee Anthony Taylor in the 1-0 win at Anfield after an angry reaction aimed at the official's assistant Gary Beswick following an incident involving Mohamed Salah and Bernardo Silva late on during the match.
The Reds manager has subsequently apologised for his actions but Klopp will not necessarily be subjected to an automatic ban, however. The Football Association will decide whether to charge, warn or take no further action against the Liverpool boss once they are in possession of the report on the match from referee Taylor.
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Moyes hopes Klopp is permitted into the technical area when the Hammers visit Anfield on Wednesday night and thinks his Reds counterpart was within his rights to question the call that saw no foul given against Salah during a tussle with Silva near the touchline.
"First thing I say is I hope he is in the opposite [dugout] because part of this job is you want to go and play against the best and you want to compete against them and Jurgen is up there with them all for what he has done with Liverpool over the years," Moyes said in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday morning.
"His actions are part of it and he was really heated but if you were in that position on Sunday you would probably do the same. But we've all got great respect for referees and the work they have to do. I hope, in their way, they will understand that for 90 minutes or a bit longer we can sometimes lose our heads here and there a little bit.
"But if we keep talking about it and keep bringing it to attention then we keep having to answer the questions. But if you don't ask us any questions about the referees or talk to us about them, then we try to forget about it.
"I don't think you should really be asking me a question about Jurgen Klopp because I can't speak for Jurgen Klopp. But if you ask me a question about managers then I am really keen to talk to you about that. For 90 minutes or a bit longer it becomes an emotional game and maybe sometimes you can change your character from what your true character is.
"But I think if we stood there and did nothing then our supporters, the public, you (the media) would probably be questioning why not? And actually, if you look at the incident that he got angry about, then he was correct wasn't he?"
Moyes has never won at Anfield during his 20-year career as a Premier League manager and the former Everton and Manchester United boss is keenly aware of the challenge of trying to end an unbeaten home run for the Reds that dates back to March 2021 in the top flight and April 2017 in front of supporters.
The West Ham boss added: "Probably in football terms it's the hardest place to go and win a football game for anyone. You've seen that probably the best manager in the world (Pep Guardiola) has found it difficult to go there and get a result, so that's why it's difficult for us all."
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